//------------------------------// // Battle of the bands... // Story: Purple Tears 2 // by Doukzor //------------------------------// "Wait, you think that plan`ll work?" Chica asked as String play and Freddy trotted along side her. "Yes, I do. Objections?" String Play asked. Chica shook her head, but still had a confused face. "How will doing this help us find Springtrap?". "As long as we can get backstage, we might be able to get a better look from those spots where the lights are" String Play boasted proudly. "I suppose it makes sense... But still, when are we doing this?" Freddy chimed in, sharing Chica`s partial confusion. "Right now" was all String Play said. The trio trotted along the stage, soon finding a small set of spruce stairs to the furthest right. Chica went ahead and stepped up to the platform, entering a darker area of the stage, being covered by crimson colored curtains. "Where do we go?" she whispered. "Just keep trotting on until you see some metal stairs" String Play replied hastily. "K`". Chica looked around, looking for any sort of stairs. Lots of clothes lines dotted the large room they walked in. Other ponies were maneuvering around them, hurrying to prepare instruments or lyric sheets. One pony, a mare, was on stage right now, but thankfully she was in front of the curtains. If the trio were seen by any supervisors, things would get... Bad. The the gray mare outside`d just started too, allowing a few minutes for the three ponies to find a way up. Freddy glanced around, seeing nothing but ponies and seats, and a bit of other things, more noticeably the large unneeded amount of clothes. String Play nudged Chica. "Hey, I found one" he pointed with his snout to a small set of thin, VERY untrusting set of coal stairs. With a shudder, the yellow mare began to make her way there, Freddy close behind. The three ascended, slowly, due to the creaking of each step. "You`d think they`d make sure this stuff was safe" Chica mumbled under breath. "H-Hey!" a familiar voice resounded in Chica`s ears. "Oh Luna, NO" she sighed, completing exactly one face-hoof before being brought up in the face by a yellow stallion. "What do you want?" she asked the light brown maned pony. He shook her hoof. "Just ta say hi, and um, why are you here?" he asked, confused. String Play sighed. "Cognitio, it shouldn`t matter to you... Cognitio?" Chica noticed the stallion was humming a song, similar, if not exactly the tune from the cup song. "Cognitio!" she snapped, gaining his attention once again. "How may I help you?" he asked, as if nothing had happened. String Play and Freddy stared blankly for a bit. "We were... Um, just gonna look for some pony, whom we... Thought, we say come up here!" Chica lied as she glanced around the top of the metal staircase. Cognitio, glanced back. "Oh, but no pony`s up THERE, I just checked. Fifty times actually" he counted his hooves, " give or take fifteen". "Well... We just saw it happen" Chica again lied, her falty statements coming in genuine. She began to go past him, but he zipped ahead in front of her. "No! No pony can come up here without a pass!" he barked, saluting as if to be a military officer. Chica almost fell off the staircase at his sudden change in attitude. "W-we don`t have any..." Chica sighed. Cognitio regained his stare momentarily, humming the cup song yet again. But he flashed back, acting different... Again. "Well, miss, you`d better get down now" he began to shoo them off. With a glance at the slowly nodding String Play, Chica turned around to trot down the stairs. "Now, good bye miss, I see that without a pass you cannot go up there" Cognitio waved his hoof absently, looking over in another direction. With a grunt, Chica and the other two began to turn around. They trotted over to the way out of the backstage area, until Freddy stopped. "How are we supposed to get up there anyways?" he asked and then added, " And WHO is that?!". "That, my friend, is Cognitio, a... Weird stallion, to say the least" Chica replied with a light sigh. "Well, let`s just go then, maybe there`s anoth-" "Why hello there, ponies I saw twenty point three seconds ago!" Cognitio shot in front of them, making String Play jump back. "I here you wanna go up there?" he asked more or less as if to a be a statement. "Y-yes, you know that" Chica said flatly. Cognitio tapped his chin with a hoof, before looking at Chica excitedly. "Well, I can let you go up there if you do one thing for me, er, this whole concert!" he smiled widely, "All of you!". String Play sighed. "What?" he asked lowly, clearly agitated. "Be IN the concert of course!" Cognitio yipped, the others just glancing at each other, along with glaring at Cognitio. "No" was all Freddy said. "Great great! The instruments would be in that corner, and you`ll go up in-" Cognitio stuck a number card in Chica`s hair- " 10 minutes! Good luck!" the yellow stallion jumped away happily, bouncing like Pinkie Pie would. "Uh, did he just?" String Play almost asked, but was answered with two shallow nods. "No, no no. Were not competing in this!" he growled. Freddy looked around, his face brightening up slightly. "Well... It may not be the FUNNEST idea, but it would let us see Springtrap easier" he pointed out. "Yep, see us singing and freaking playing a drum while we can`t get to him. Great" String Play muttered. "Well..." Chica pulled out the small index card in her hair, "we`re on soon". "So, how long can you stay?" Twilight asked Badge Gleam. "For a little while, maybe two hours or so" he answered with a shrug. Twilight looked back at the stage. Octavia was just finishing up, a few lines left to sing. 'But I won`t cry, I am Octavia'. "For a concert they have the greatest variety of music i`ve ever seen" Twilight commented. Just before a rock band had come and gone, and earlier was dubstep instrumentals, solo parodies, and even orchestras. 'You hurt me now, but I won`t cry'. Octavia got up, bowing, as many hoof claps were heard. She then turned and picked up her Cello, trotting off and through the red curtains, as they were lifted by another pony. Once she disappeared, a yellow unicorn stallion with a chipped horn poked his head out of the curtain, glancing this way and that. He had an eye-patch on him, but the pony was too far away for Twilight to actually TELL what was on it or what it represented. He ducked behind a curtain suddenly, his eyes shrinking for a second. "Okay then" Twilight muttered. "What is it?" Badge Gleam asked. "Just some pony". A small group of ponies came out, all foals. They had cups in there hooves, some enveloped within different colors of magic. They all stopped as tiny wooden blocks floated out onto the stage, each one in front of a foal. The cups dropped to the block, as the ponies began to sing the cup song. "Aw" was all Twilight could think to say. Badge Gleam nodded. "See, told you they had every type of music". "Why are the lads takin` so long?" Foxy complained, his hooves in front of him as he laid down. "I don`t know, maybe they got caught up in something?" Bonnie suggested. Goldy shrugged. "I guess, but still, they should tell us if that happens" he pointed out, a bit annoyed. "Possibly, but I don`t really see what would be the hold up" Vincent sighed as he just stared out the hallway, bored written on his face. "Hm, lad, do you know where you were at this time?" Foxy asked. "N-no, not really, but I think I may have messed it up a bit, in truth, you were found by Springtrap, almost killed" Vincent shrugged, "Bonnie here would end up dying by blood loss later... String Play and Chica were the only survivors". The two stared blankly, imagining their close fates. "Wait, you changed the future?" Goldy asked, almost dumbfounded. "Yeah, why? Something wrong with that?" Vincent asked, a bit worried. "No, I just wouldn`t tell String Play that" Goldy rolled his eyes. Foxy shivered a bit, looking away, down the other hallway. "Why not?". "Because, he tried to save us, including himself. Present Gift is now in the afterlife, but he failed at helping us". Vincent sighed, looking back down the hallway. His gaze had become more downed then bright. His ears fell back, as he muttered "sorry" silently. "So, were really gonna sing?" Chica asked nervously. "Yes, sadly. When we get done, I swear i`m putting the others in this too" String Play muttered. "Well yeah, were not gonna embarrass ourselves alone!" she gave a playful shove to String Play. He smiled slightly, but backed up out of her way, causing her to almost fall. Freddy was tuning a microphone. "So, what are we even gonna sing?" he asked. String Play smiled. "Oh, I have an idea". The three trotted out onto the stage, each holding different instruments. "I wish Bonnie were here, we could use a guitarist right now" Chica muttered. String Play stopped and placed a small piano like object on a black stand, though it was more square. He tested a few buttons, most unheard by the crowd. Chica set up the same thing, while Freddy had a microphone stand, and well... A microphone. "Are you ready?" he asked the others. They both nodded. With a sigh, the music began. (before the music`s done) Badge Gleam stared, his eyes shrunken to tiny dots. Twilight was in a more confused state, as she studied the black and white stallion on stage. Badge Gleam backed up, his lip trembling. "I-I need to go" he stammered. Twilight looked back, to see him slowly backing up. "What`s wrong?!" She silently shouted, getting up to catch up to the retreating stallion. "N-nothing, I just need to go" he muttered. He pulled down his cap with a hoof, before turning to gallop away. "B-Badge Gleam!" Twilight called out, but the denim pony ignored her and left. With a sigh, Twilight turned back to the ponies on stage. She decided to let Badge Gleam go for now, as she looked at the familiar white pupil pony. "I-is that?". The music stopped, and the ponies took their things, trotting back under a curtain- none taking the time to bow or smile. "It can`t be" she muttered again. The stallion walked out with his two friends, both familiar too. "String Play".